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Intolerant of Intolerance

I keep wondering why so many Muslim men are joining ISIS, Boko Haram etc. And I keep being drawn back to a book I read years ago: Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She turned her back on Islam because she believes the view of half the world’s population as inferior does not make for a decent, happy society. From my personal experience of Islamic culture – being married to a Muslim and living in a Muslim country for 3 years (the most moderate of them) – I agree. What has prompted this is the number of posts I’ve read promoting tolerance of Islam. I absolutely do not want to encourage hatred, or subscribe to the ‘close the borders’ mentality – people fleeing for their lives should be welcomed no matter their beliefs – but I do not ever want to ‘tolerate’ the treatment of women as second rate humans under Islamic regimes, both in the UK and in every single Muslim country in the world. True Muslims are not the perpetrators of the atrocities we have seen in recent times – the vast, vast majority are decent people with kind hearts. But their culture is the breeding ground for the men who are joining these violent groups and I think a large part of the flaw in their societies are the fractures created by inequalities and oppression.

“There are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice.” ― Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel

“Multiculturalism should not mean that we tolerate another culture’s intolerance. If we do in fact support diversity, women’s rights, and gay rights, then we cannot in good conscience give Islam a free pass on the grounds of multicultural sensitivity.” ― Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now